Olympics- Opening Ceremony

[Homercidal]

You all must admit, even though it was fairly boring and I agree that such a spectacle has no business being an Olympic Opening Ceremony, it was pretty interesting how they put it all together. I mean, just the sheer mechanics and coordination were impressive. Some of it was entertaining to me, but I ended up getting up and finding something else to do after a bit.

I guess I didn't think "Ceremony" and much as "Comedy Routine".

 

[the_bird]

We watched most of it, because the_Bean wanted to see it. The whole bit with the doctors and the sick kids and their nightmares, was very Pink Floyd-ey. I did like that the ceremony closed with "Dark Side". Apparently there was a little bit of Sex Pistols that wasn't broadcast in the U.S., as well as a girl-girl kiss; the joke was that NBC was broadcasting the ceremony on a 50-year delay. Kept waiting for hobbits to show up, too, although apparently the whole transformation from the pastoral setting to the industrial setting was supposed to *invoke* Tokkien; I still wanted some ******* hobbits.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I did like that the ceremony closed with "Dark Side".

I noticed when they did a fly-over of London that the inflatable pig was back at Battersea power station like on the Animals cover.

 

[TxBrew]

I watched it till I couldn't take it any more.

I just kept shaking my head and it was making me dizzy.

 

[terrapinj]

We watched most of it, because the_Bean wanted to see it. The whole bit with the doctors and the sick kids and their nightmares, was very Pink Floyd-ey. I did like that the ceremony closed with "Dark Side". Apparently there was a little bit of Sex Pistols that wasn't broadcast in the U.S., as well as a girl-girl kiss; the joke was that NBC was broadcasting the ceremony on a 50-year delay. Kept waiting for hobbits to show up, too, although apparently the whole transformation from the pastoral setting to the industrial setting was supposed to *invoke* Tokkien; I still wanted some ******* hobbits.

I noticed a brief clip of the sex pistols during the intro animation that was following the River Thames

 

[Darwin18]

From what I've read NBC heavily edited the Opening Ceremonies which might explain why it was so confusing...

 

[terrapinj]

From what I've read NBC heavily edited the Opening Ceremonies which might explain why it was so confusing...

Wow - so it was even longer? those poor poor people in the crowd

 

[Cromwell]

Huh. Obviously I'm alone here, but I liked it. I watched the whole thing (except the commercials, but including the parade of nations). Admittedly the parade of nations gets tedious, but this was far less so that most opening ceremonies. I do like a lot of British TV (Fawlty Towers, the IT Crowd, Father Ted, etc.) but even so, this was far far superior to the Opening Ceremony in Beijing. Just my opinion.

 

[david_42]

You were expecting something from the U.K. (other than Monty Python) to be anything other than boring?

I haven't watched any of the Olympics at all this year.

 

[Darwin18]

I did enjoy the Bond/Queen footage and definitely got a kick out of the "pair" parachuting out of a helicopter over the stadium. I didn't think the ceremonies were so bad but they did confusing especially towards the end. I also HATE Twitter/Social Media and think Ryan Seacrest has no place, NO PLACE, in Olympics sports coverage.

 

[bob1852]

and think Ryan Seacrest has no place, NO PLACE, on this planet.

Fixed; or was that too harsh?

 

[Darwin18]

Not harsh enough!!

 

[RipUSMC]

I wasn't a fan of the "socialized medicine" bit with the kids on hospital beds. That seemed to be aimed at us. I don't really need to see Brits dancing out how much they love their health care.

 

[Homercidal]

Wife complained the other day that some news sites were "spoiling" the results before she could watch on NBC. I told her to just stop reading news sites and facebook if she doesn't want spoilers!

Then friggin NBC spoiled the results of a swim match last night 5 minutes before the race!!! THE SAME CHANNEL!!

WTH is wrong with these people? Giving the results BEFORE you air the event??

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I was following a thread about the opening ceremony on my English s*ccer forum, and it was the complete opposite to this thread, they seemed to love it! That surprised me coming from a bunch of soccer hooligans, so I put it down to national bias.
Since then, I watched some of it again on the BBC website as it was when it was screened in it's entirety with the BBC narration. It was a completely different show when viewed with insightful context that was given when needed, and without trivial comments. The truth lies somewhere between excellent and boring, a composite of the two threads I have been following.
NBC made a truly awful job of editing it, then decided to let the Muppets narrate it and threw in some Ryan Seacrest and Justin Beiber for good measure, adding volumes of meaningless, moronic drivel.

They were definitely two entirely different shows.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

You were expecting something from the U.K. (other than Monty Python) to be anything other than boring?

I haven't watched any of the Olympics at all this year.

Not enough car chases for you? Never mind, they inserted some Ryan and Justin to brighten it up for you.

I wasn't a fan of the "socialized medicine" bit with the kids on hospital beds. That seemed to be aimed at us. I don't really need to see Brits dancing out how much they love their health care.

Being a bit self-important aren't you? They were showcasing something they like about Britain. Since the whole show was about them, I doubt they would put that in just to have a dig at the US.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Wife complained the other day that some news sites were "spoiling" the results before she could watch on NBC. I told her to just stop reading news sites and facebook if she doesn't want spoilers!

Then friggin NBC spoiled the results of a swim match last night 5 minutes before the race!!! THE SAME CHANNEL!!

WTH is wrong with these people? Giving the results BEFORE you air the event??

It's starting to look like NBC have declined to buy the rights for any live coverage at all.

 

[glenn514]

My wife and I began watching the opening ceremony...and we both started to fall asleep. We finally looked at each other, said, "This is a waste of time," and went to bed. I think the sleep was far better than the broadcast.

glenn514

 

[Yooper]

Oh, I shouldn't have. But I turned on the closing ceremonies.

first up- a band called "madness" singing their 1982 hit "Our House" (badly). Does anybody remember that one-hit band? Or that song?

Followed by Ryan Seacrest?

 

[passedpawn]

Oh, I shouldn't have. But I turned on the closing ceremonies.

first up- a band called "madness" singing their 1982 hit "Our House" (badly). Does anybody remember that one-hit band? Or that song?

Followed by Ryan Seacrest?

I really liked that song. Sure, sounds dated now.

I missed the ceremonies tho.

 

[the_bird]

Incidentally, the first time I went scrolling through the TV listings and saw "XXX Olympics," I thought it was for a porn parody. Which kind of makes sense, given that the Olympics logo this time around looks like Lisa Simpson giving a *******.

 

[Yooper]

Speaking of porn, they just had a nice tribute to John Lennon. followed by a live performance of George Michael.

Now, is it just me or does EVERYBODY laugh out loud when they hear the words "George Michael"? And then think of sexual predation and drugs?

Where are the British artists? Eric Clapton? Or even Rod Stewart? Seriously. George Michael?

 

[the_bird]

Uh, George Michael is British. Pretty sure every band that's been involved tonight is Brit.

 

[the_bird]

I was *very* disappointed they didn't make John Lennon and Freddie Mercury into holograms. Seriously - they can make a Tupak hologram and sell tickets to his "concert", but they can't make Lennon and Mercury sing a duet for the Olympics? C'MON, MAN!

 

[RDWHAHB]

Uh, George Michael is British. Pretty sure every band that's been involved tonight is Brit.

His british nationality is not in question, his status as an artist is.

 

[the_bird]

Point taken.

 

[the_bird]

If the Kaiser Chiefs REALLY wanted to invoke the spirit of The Who with their "Pinball Wizard" rendition, they should have driven one of those fool motorcycles into the Olympic pool.

 

[Darwin18]

Spice girls....

 

[Yooper]

If the Kaiser Chiefs REALLY wanted to invoke the spirit of The Who with their "Pinball Wizard" rendition, they should have driven one of those fool motorcycles into the Olympic pool.

Oh, C'mon. Sure, you wanted a Pink Floyd reunion, but heck they did you one better. There is a Spice Girls Reunion going on right now!!!!

 

[leftcontact]

Ok I gotta admit riding around a stadium on the roof of a mini looks like fun. Certainly more fun than riding around inside said mini.